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Hubert Goodnews
Human male, born LY 842, in First Village. Journalist and former newspaper publisher. Hubert came from a moderate background; his clan was comfortable, but far from wealthy. He always had an inquisitive mind, seeking out knowledge whenever and wherever he could. By the time he was in his late teens, he had decided to become a journalist, and spent years building up a reputation as a reporter for a prominent local newspaper, the First Village Chronicle. (The Chronicle was a daily publication in First Village, but a special edition was distributed to other villages once every two months.) By the age of 35, in 877, he had become its editor. By 880, he had also taken over as publisher. His skills and integrity as a journalist were respected by both readers and fellow journalists around the world; some have even said they considered him a role model. One of his best-remembered articles was written in 881; a rare piece of journalism for him at the time, as his editing and publishing duties left him little time to pursue his original line of actually writing. However, it's said that no other journalist in the world could have written this piece, precisely because of his renown. It was his idea to attend The Order's annual Pilgrimage to Monab, which takes place throughout the month of Su'gin. He wanted to report on what the proceedings were like, from the point of view of a non-spirit-talker. It is unlikely The Order would have consented to such a thing, if not for the fact that Hubert was so well-respected. Consent for the article, and full-access to the proceedings, were granted by Arch-bishop Esmeralda (whose home village was also First Village); though sadly, she died shortly before the Pilgrimage, and would never get to see the article he wrote about it, which was dedicated to her memory. It should be noted that a trader named Demos was also in Monab at that time. Though there is no evidence that Hubert and Demos crossed paths, many people would later speculate that they did in fact meet during the 881 Pilgrimage, and that something happened between them to turn them against each other. Another article for which Hubert is remembered was written in 899. This was the year that gangs were first expanding their operations, and both InterVil and the court system were established in response. It is also the year that the adult license law was passed. The Chronicle served as an important source of information about all these developments, for villages around the world. In his article, Hubert proposed a subclause for the adult license law, which would deprive any known gang members of their emotional stamp, thus precluding them from being considered full adults. This also precluded them from voting, though at the time, that only applied to local referenda. It would, however, just a few years later, also apply to voting in elections, both local and federal. The respect people had for Hubert's opinions had only continued to grow over the years, and not surprisingly, when legal representatives were meeting in Kurok, they heeded his suggestion, including the subclause in the final draft of the law. When potential federal elections were first proposed in 902, various people around the world began campaigning for office. One of those in the running for the position of monarch was Demos, who Hubert made clear in several articles in the'' Chronicle'', he did not believe should be elected. He even went so far as to enter the race himself. However, prior to the election, there was a scandal in which Hubert was discredited for printing libelous statements about Demos. As a result, he not only lost the election, he was also voted out of his position as both publisher and editor of the Chronicle, by the company's board of directors. (He was replaced as editor by Philip Wordsmith.) The scandal also led to the passing of the Political Eligibility Act, which, among other things, would preclude highly-placed journalists from running for high office. When the surname law was passed in 904, Hubert chose the name "Goodnews," presumably because he still wanted people to see him as a good journalist, or perhaps it was a symbol of optimism in the face of his professional downfall. He was hoping he himself would ultimately receive good news. And the following year, he did: he was hired by an old friend, who was then editor of the Triscot Daily News. And so, Hubert moved to Triscot, where he currently resides. In 908, the editor retired, and was replaced by Hubert. Obviously, in the years since he began working for the Triscot Daily News, he worked to rebuild his reputation, and slowly regained the trust of the public (at least in Triscot), as well as the trust of the paper's publisher. This process was helped by his long and distinguished career prior to the scandal, as well as to his apologetic attitude for having made a mistake. The most prominent example of this change of heart was displayed by his being master of ceremonies at a rally for Demos in 912, which also served to introduce the newly established public address system, which used bubble-screens and bubble-speakers. Later that same year, it would be proven that Hubert had in fact been right about Demos all along. It is unknown whether Hubert played a part in Demos's downfall, though those who did, used the PA system to their advantage. And so, at age 70, Hubert was vindicated, and his reputation fully restored not only in Triscot, but throughout the world. Good news, indeed. Category:People